Shafek
Shafek is the servant of an Egyptain cult who worships the High Priest Imhotep, and a major antagonist in The Mummy Returns. He was portrayed by Quill Roberts. Biography Serving the Cult of Imhotep Shafek was the servant who stood quietly as events occurred, as his job title required him to do. As the cultists searched for a way to seize power and to return life to the High Priest Imhotep, Shafek assisted them by any means possible. Dig at Hamunaptra Shafek and the other cultists had established a dig site at the ruins of Hamunaptra, where they searched for three items that served up some importance to the cultist group: the Book of the Dead, the Book of the Living, and the preserved corpse of the former High Priest of Osiris, Imhotep. Enlisting the efforts of hundreds of local diggers, the cultist group had begun to dig at the ruins, finding first the two books before a loud rumbling sound that shook the earth below all at the site erupted. At the base of a large pit that the diggers were making, a pile of sand began to rise. With that, the sand gave way to a swarm of carnivorous scarab beetles that devoured many of the diggers and others before they could be stopped by cultist thugs wielding flamethrowers. To the cultist Meela Nais, the sound of diggers being mauled meant that they were getting close to their prize; Meela mused on this as she passed by a limousine that Shafek was holding open for her. At that moment, one digger called out that he had found something, which sent all present, digger and cultist alike, running to the find. Once the cultists had all reached the area, they knew that the diggers had, at last, discovered the remains of Imhotep, as they were encased in a thick, yellow, amber-like substance. As the cultists all beheld with awe their fallen leader, Shafek brought forth a blue-and-gold urn that Lock-Nah identified as "those that serve him", and three thieves that had been chartered by Hafez, Spivey, Red, and Jacques, reported that a certain artifact, the Bracelet of Anubis, that they were meant to retrieve had been taken by a rival group, the O'Connell family. After a heated debate with some of the cultists at the point of their weapons, Meela stopped the debate and soon after the question arose as to where the Bracelet had gotten: Red stated that it was bound for London, leaving the cultists to all leave to London. In London Shafek, along with several other cultists including Lock-Nah and Meela Nais, had reached the O'Connell family's home in London and were seeking the chest containing the Bracelet of Anubis. Shafek headed upstairs, along with Hafez, Meela, and two other cultist thugs to interrogate Rick O'Connell. The cultists found Jonathan Carnahan instead, and mistook him for O'Connell. As Hafez demanded to know where the Bracelet of Anubis was, Shafek held Jonathan back in a chair by holding a dagger to his throat when the latter tried to explain himself. Shafek continued to hold the dagger even as Meela threatened Jonathan with an Egyptian asp. Meela stepped closer with the asp until the real Rick O'Connell walked in, thinking the cultists to be guests in another of Jonathan's parties. Rick was about to ask the cultists to cease their threats, but was stopped when Meela threw her snake at him. O'Connell caught the snake and flung it at a cultist thug. Shafek then withdrew a dagger and threw it at O'Connell, but O'Connell caught it and tossed it back. Shafek instinctively dodged the blade as it hit the second thug. At that, a third thug rushed into the room with a machine gun and began to open fire on O'Connell and Jonathan, who escaped by jumping through a window. Shafek and the others left once their compatriots downstairs had taken Evelyn and the chest containing the Bracelet. Shafek and the other cultists then headed back to the British Museum of Antiquities, where, in the loading docks, they began to perform the ritual that would bring Imhotep back to life. Shafek kneeled down and held the Book of the Dead up for Hafez to read from. The ritual was completed and Imhotep returned to life. Imhotep was introduced to Meela Nais, who claimed to be his lover, Anck-Su-Namun, reincarnated, which Imhotep acknowledged, and remarked that she was his lover only in body, but after bringing her soul back from the Underworld, she would be entirely her true self. Meela then presented Imhotep with a gift: Evelyn O'Connell, who was bound up and about to be thrown into a large flaming stone basin. At that moment, O'Connell came into the loading docks and rescued Evelyn from the fires before she could be harmed. Drawing out guns, the O'Connells began to fire upon the cultists, with cover fire from Ardeth Bay, a Medjai warrior. Shafek, along with other cultists, fought back against the O'Connells and Ardeth, eventually winning the battle and forcing them off as Imhotep opened the same urn that the cultists had found at Hamunaptra. From the urn came four torrents of sand which materialized as four mummified warriors that were commanded by Imhotep. The mummies then broke through the museum walls and pursued Ardeth and the O'Connells. That night, as Imhotep stood from a balcony watching London with Anck-Su-Namun at his side, Hafez approached him, along with Shafek, and informed him that the O'Connells had the Scepter of Osiris. Imhotep remarked that by the time the cult reached Ahm Shere, his powers would have regenerated enough to pass need for the Scepter. Journey to Ahm Shere Shafek, along with the rest of the cultists, journeyed to Cairo, where they boarded a train that was guarded by armed cultist thugs. Onboard the train, Hafez explained to Meela that the last time that the O'Connells had encountered Imhotep, they sent his immortal soul to the Underworld and only with the Bracelet could Imhotep be truly unstoppable. With that, Hafez handed Meela the Book of the Dead, instructing her to keep it close at all times. Soon after, Alex O'Connell, the O'Connell couple's son, who had been taken hostage as he was wearing the Bracelet of Anubis, was brought forward to Hafez and Meela, who then sent him to meet Imhotep, taking the boy into another boxcar. At that moment, the three thieves that Hafez had enlisted to retrieve the Bracelet had come forward with a new request from Hafez: the chest that had contained the Book of the Dead. The three thieves had learned that the four men that had found it years back had all died and so the three thieves decided to demand more money. Hafez was insistent that he pay them what he had offered originally, but the thieves insisted on their new fee; Meela decided to cater to their demands, leading them to another boxcar where Imhotep was in waiting, and where the thieves had been duped into becoming his sacrifices. The cultists had stopped in Karnak when Alex had tried to escape, and they stopped for the night within the ruins, setting up camp. The next morning, the cultists had left Karnak and began to travel on by the camel, reaching the temple island of Philae, after which they had stopped in Abu Simbel, the cultists unknowing, save for Imhotep himself and Lock-Nah, that they were being followed by Alex's parents, along with his uncle Jonathan and the warrior Ardeth Bay, all travelling by dirigible, which was piloted by Izzy Buttons. Alex's parents were following the cultists by means of Alex leaving small sandcastle-like replicas of the cultists' next stops. The cultists then reached a canyon that had been carved by the Blue Nile, far out of modern Egypt but still within the reaches of ancient Egypt. Alex was leaving a clue of the cultists' next stop when Lock-Nah, having caught him, stopped Alex and angrily shouted at him. But Imhotep, with another plan in mind, ordered Lock-Nah to back down, demonstrating to Alex his powers as he summoned up a great tidal wave of water from the river that he sent to destroy the dirigible that carried Alex's family. The waters had brought down the dirigible and Imhotep, thinking his enemies to be done with, had the cultists continue on journeying into what they finally found, the Oasis of Ahm Shere. Death The cultists began to journey further and further into the jungles, and as they ventured on, some of their members began to disappear into the undergrowth. As more and more cultists were taken down, the cause revealed itself cannibal pygmies. Throwing the Book of the Dead, which he had been holding, to another cultist, Shafek began to run away from the pygmies, running on and on until he crossed paths with Jonathan, who he began to run with as the two men escaped from the pygmies. After some running, Jonathan and Shafek reached a clearing in the jungle that was marked with large white stones. Jonathan explained that the stones were sacred stones, indicating a burial ground, which the pygmies would not cross. Shafek asked if he was sure of it, to which Jonathan replied that he was, but one of the pygmies spotted them standing in the burial ground and, using its spear as a pole-vault, leapt into the air, landed on Shafek's chest, and stabbed the man in the heart. Personality and Traits A cultist servant that said little, Shafek was seen constantly doing the bidding of his masters, executing those that caused trouble for the cult and holding items for others. Shafek served as a bodyguard, servant, assassin and chauffeur for the cultists when the need arose. A thin man, Shafek's attire as a cultist was different from that which the cultist thugs wore: Shafek wore a red turban as the other cultists did, but wore a red vest-like garment in place of the long red robes worn by other cultists, revealing black sleeves. trousers and boots. Trivia *Shafek was given his name in the credits while the novelization of the film leaves him nameless. Navigation Category:Minion Category:The Mummy Villains Category:Movie Villains Category:Horror Villains Category:Live Action Villains Category:Guardians Category:Enforcer Category:Cowards Category:Deceased Category:Fighters Category:Dark Fantasy Villains Category:Action Movie Villains Category:Thugs Category:Male Category:Criminals Category:Scapegoat Category:Evil Vs. Evil Category:Pawns Category:Conspirators Category:Deal Makers Category:Supremacists